Funders

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.

For more than 30 years, the Foundation has brought experience, commitment and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves, because when it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in our lifetime.

"Ensuring a stable, well-trained frontline workforce is essential to the quality of our nation’s public health and health care systems," says Victor Capoccia, Ph.D., senior program officer at RWJF. "But workers on the front lines—the people with the most direct contact with patients and clients—often receive limited formal training and low wages. We need to think differently and build systems to develop skills, build careers, recognize and reward these workers, especially as we face new public health challenges and an aging population."

The Hitachi Foundation

The Hitachi Foundation is a nonprofit, independent, philanthropic organization established to enhance the well-being of economically isolated people in the United States. The Foundation systematically invests in path breaking practices for use by business and nonprofit organizations to mutually address community problems. These practices alleviate conditions that perpetuate poverty and also help to strengthen business.

The Foundation has three major programs: the Business and Communities Grants Program, the Hitachi Community Action Partnership, and the Yoshiyama Award for Exemplary Service to the Community. Combining philanthropy and community engagement, these programs expand our understanding of corporate citizenship and allow the Foundation to inform the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of Hitachi, Ltd.

"People on the front lines of health care help save lives. We need to do a better job of ensuring they have skills and career paths. That is key to improving quality of care and building new opportunities for a group too often overlooked," says Barbara Dyer, president and CEO of The Hitachi Foundation. "This new initiative is an important step forward. It is exciting for us to collaborate with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and we much anticipate learning from the on-the-ground projects these combined resources will make possible."

The Employment and Training Administration, United States  Department of Labor

The Employment and Training Administration administers federal government job training and worker dislocation programs, federal grants to states for public employment service programs, and unemployment insurance benefits. These services are primarily provided through state and local workforce development systems.